Monday, December 18, 2006
Thoughts on the Rest of the Weekend's Action
Everton - Chelsea
As much as I dislike Chelsea and everything they stand for, I will be the first to recognize that yesterday's win over Everton was a compelling case for why they will romp to a 3rd consecutive league title. Just when things seemed lost, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba pulled 2 sublime goals from out of nowhere and salvaged all 3 points for Chelsea. No doubt Everton will feel hard done by the scoreline, but Chelsea showed that they have quality in their ranks.
It's a shame that Khalid Bouhlarouz can't start more often for Chelsea. He had a torrid game against Everton, and it seemed a mirror image of his game against our Merseyside warriors earlier in the season at Stamford Bridge.
Manchester City - Tottenham Hotspur
Tom Huddlestone put in another eye-opening performance and has no doubt made a serious claim to a starting midfield spot in Martin Jol's starting XI. He had a hand in both of Tottenham's first half goals, especially the 2nd, which he scored with a vicious volley from 20 yards out after a neat square pass from Egyptian international Hossam Ghaly.
It seems to me that Berbatov - Defoe have really secured their claims to be Martin Jol's first choice strike pairing. In the absence of Robbie Keane, Jermain Defoe has really shown that he is one of England's top strikers, and that Martin Jol omits him from Tottenham's starting XI at his own peril.
Manchester City looked lifeless during the first 45 minutes, arguably the worst performance I've seen from a Premiership side in a long time. Whatever was said in the dressing room at halftime seemed to fire up the troops, but it was a case of too little, too late. Joey Barton ran the midfield show in the 2nd half, and on that sort of form, I think he could be worthy of an England call-up. My concern for him is the consistency of his passing distribution and, on occasions, his ability to 'shut off' at certain points in the game. In my opinion, he needs to keep his concentration for the full 90 minutes. It also seems quite glaring to me that Manchester City are lacking quality up front and on the wings, especially down the left-hand side.
West Ham - Manchester United
Call it 'the new manager effect.' A somewhat unsurprising result. Still, West Ham seemed motivated and fired up to impress their new boss. In particular, James Collins' display in central defense and Lee Bowyer's tireless work in midfield caught my eye as the key performances that kept Manchester United at bay. Could the tide be turning against Sir Alex and his boys?
Arsenal - Portsmouth
Emmanuel Adebayor has truly put in some eye-catching performances of late. He turned the game on its head upon his introduction against Portsmouth, and played a key role in overturning Arsenal's 2 goal deficit to Harry Redknapp's battlers. Even though they played with only 1 fit striker, Portsmouth found 2 goals thanks to Noe Pamarot and Matthew Taylor.
I was only impressed by Theo Walcott's work on the right for Arsenal after the permanently injured Freddie Ljungberg hobbled off after 6 minutes. Walcott, like Adebayor, had a role in both of Arsenal's goals, and made an impact down Arsenal's right-hand flank.
Aston Villa - Bolton
Seemed awfully reminiscent of Bolton's away game earlier in the season against Portsmouth. In that game, they had 1 chance and converted it for the game's only goal. They were also dominated in that game at Fratton Park, but thanks to the performance of Jussi Jääskeläinen in goal, took all 3 points in that match at Fratton Park. The script was essentially the same at Villa Park this weekend, and I must tip my hat to Bolton's resilience. If they can continue to demonstrate such resiliency on a more consistent basis, they will truly be a legitimate UEFA Cup contender.
As much as I dislike Chelsea and everything they stand for, I will be the first to recognize that yesterday's win over Everton was a compelling case for why they will romp to a 3rd consecutive league title. Just when things seemed lost, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba pulled 2 sublime goals from out of nowhere and salvaged all 3 points for Chelsea. No doubt Everton will feel hard done by the scoreline, but Chelsea showed that they have quality in their ranks.
It's a shame that Khalid Bouhlarouz can't start more often for Chelsea. He had a torrid game against Everton, and it seemed a mirror image of his game against our Merseyside warriors earlier in the season at Stamford Bridge.
Manchester City - Tottenham Hotspur
Tom Huddlestone put in another eye-opening performance and has no doubt made a serious claim to a starting midfield spot in Martin Jol's starting XI. He had a hand in both of Tottenham's first half goals, especially the 2nd, which he scored with a vicious volley from 20 yards out after a neat square pass from Egyptian international Hossam Ghaly.
It seems to me that Berbatov - Defoe have really secured their claims to be Martin Jol's first choice strike pairing. In the absence of Robbie Keane, Jermain Defoe has really shown that he is one of England's top strikers, and that Martin Jol omits him from Tottenham's starting XI at his own peril.
Manchester City looked lifeless during the first 45 minutes, arguably the worst performance I've seen from a Premiership side in a long time. Whatever was said in the dressing room at halftime seemed to fire up the troops, but it was a case of too little, too late. Joey Barton ran the midfield show in the 2nd half, and on that sort of form, I think he could be worthy of an England call-up. My concern for him is the consistency of his passing distribution and, on occasions, his ability to 'shut off' at certain points in the game. In my opinion, he needs to keep his concentration for the full 90 minutes. It also seems quite glaring to me that Manchester City are lacking quality up front and on the wings, especially down the left-hand side.
West Ham - Manchester United
Call it 'the new manager effect.' A somewhat unsurprising result. Still, West Ham seemed motivated and fired up to impress their new boss. In particular, James Collins' display in central defense and Lee Bowyer's tireless work in midfield caught my eye as the key performances that kept Manchester United at bay. Could the tide be turning against Sir Alex and his boys?
Arsenal - Portsmouth
Emmanuel Adebayor has truly put in some eye-catching performances of late. He turned the game on its head upon his introduction against Portsmouth, and played a key role in overturning Arsenal's 2 goal deficit to Harry Redknapp's battlers. Even though they played with only 1 fit striker, Portsmouth found 2 goals thanks to Noe Pamarot and Matthew Taylor.
I was only impressed by Theo Walcott's work on the right for Arsenal after the permanently injured Freddie Ljungberg hobbled off after 6 minutes. Walcott, like Adebayor, had a role in both of Arsenal's goals, and made an impact down Arsenal's right-hand flank.
Aston Villa - Bolton
Seemed awfully reminiscent of Bolton's away game earlier in the season against Portsmouth. In that game, they had 1 chance and converted it for the game's only goal. They were also dominated in that game at Fratton Park, but thanks to the performance of Jussi Jääskeläinen in goal, took all 3 points in that match at Fratton Park. The script was essentially the same at Villa Park this weekend, and I must tip my hat to Bolton's resilience. If they can continue to demonstrate such resiliency on a more consistent basis, they will truly be a legitimate UEFA Cup contender.
